Florida schools looking into "trash can cameras"

[SunnyDays]

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Lake-County-considers-trash-cams-at-school-cafeterias/-/1637132/16830940/-/or18q4/-/index.html

 

Apparently the kids aren't eating their veggies, so they're looking into cameras in the trash cans to catch the non-eaters.

 

So... what exactly are they going to do with the information? More education? Do the kids get detention? Do the parents get fined?

 

(Some of the comments on the article are quite political... let's discuss the camera/school lunch thing and not pull politics in. :) )

[amo_mea_filiis.]

The article days the cam would not capture the students faces, only what gets thrown in. For what? If they already know that food is being wasted, why are they considering spending money to see how much money is being thrown out?

[GoVanGogh]

I didn't read the article, but wanted to chime in. ;)

A school district by us just received a grant to study foods being tossed. They are not using cameras, but will have a research team stationed near the trash cans to record what is remaining on the trays. They say they are doing this to see exactly what food is being thrown away so they can tailor the meals to what the kids will actually eat.

[Mama Geek]

Why don't they just ask Walmart what the kids will eat. They know.

[Pegasus]

Part of the reason for wasted food is silly policies. Schools here require each student to take certain items and certain number of items on their tray. So, kids take what is required in addition to what they want and just toss the extra.

[Georgiana Daniels]

Didn't read the article...dying to know how veggies are political, lol!

 

Most kids will only eat the good stuff when parents are not overseeing. I am sad to think how many apples I threw away over the years. Hopefully we are instilling better habits in our kids.

[staceyobu]

I could save them a whole lot of money on cameras.

 

Dear school,

 

They aren't eating the fruits or veggies.

 

There! Money saved!

 

I think part of the problem is the way fruit is served. My kids will eat sliced apples. However, they typically don't want a whole apple.

[Zebra]

This is ridiculous.

 

Haven't the schools got bigger problems than what the kids are eating for lunch? If you are simply worried about them "cleaning their plates" then just give them soda and ice cream for lunch. Or here's another idea...don't serve anything unhealthy, and then they won't eat anything unhealthy. A truly hungry child WILL EAT VEGGIES.

 

Maybe they could just get those body scanners and check what each child has eaten after lunch...

[laundrycrisis]

Or here's another idea...don't serve anything unhealthy, and then they won't eat anything unhealthy. A truly hungry child WILL EAT VEGGIES.

 

ITA. Stop making nutrition-empty foods an option. Take french fries off the menu. Stop counting ketchup as a serving of a vegetable !

 

The cafeteria food I grew up with was so gross. It all came out of cans. If they had offered anything remotely fresh and foodlike, I would have been all over it ! Apples ? Bananas ? Green beans or broccoli that were actually raw when they started with them, and not cooked to pudding ? If the kids are throwing out nasty mushy canned vegetables, I don't blame them.

[SJ.]

I had similar questions when I read about this yesterday. What exactly will they do with this information? Perhaps they should give the children a choice of taking certain foods at lunch or serve fruits/veggies at a self serve salad bar. My boys go to an enrichment program at a charter school and my son is there at lunch time, they pick two items from a salad bar and receive a main meal (out of four choices) at lunch time.

 

I am curious to know if when children choose their own fruits and vegetables if they tend to actually it them.

[Mama_Rana]

Florida can't afford to provide a real science curriculum in its elementary schools, but they can put cameras on their trash cans?

 

:001_huh:

[AndyJoy]

I didn't read the article, but wanted to chime in. ;)

A school district by us just received a grant to study foods being tossed. They are not using cameras, but will have a research team stationed near the trash cans to record what is remaining on the trays. They say they are doing this to see exactly what food is being thrown away so they can tailor the meals to what the kids will actually eat.

They should save some money and use a 5th/6th grade "research team" and have them graph the results and come up with a proposed solution.:001_smile:

 

I attended a small PS in Idaho for a month where the grandmotherly cafeteria ladies would stand by the trash can and encourage you to sit back down and finish your milk and veggies. However, their food tasted like it was real food cooked by nice grandmas (because it was!) rather than coming from a can, so it wasn't a fight generally.

Edited October 3, 2012 by AndyJoy

[AndyJoy]

I could save them a whole lot of money on cameras.

 

Dear school,

 

They aren't eating the fruits or veggies.

 

There! Money saved!

 

I think part of the problem is the way fruit is served. My kids will eat sliced apples. However, they typically don't want a whole apple.

 

Amen!

 

I had a different problem with the fruit offerings at my school--they were canned, not fresh! Mostly we were given mixed fruit or peaches in syrup. Very rarely we got fresh orange pieces. I would have been a lot happier with the choice of a whole apple, banana, or orange, but we were not given choices on anything except 1 of 2 main dishes and fat free, 2%, or whole milk (and chocolate on Fridays).

[Wildcat]

A truly hungry child WILL EAT VEGGIES.

 

Actually, I would have gone hungry. I used to eat the corn and potatoes (yeah, I even *liked* the instant stuff), but I wouldn't touch the green beans or peas. They were from a can and were horrid!!

 

Amen!

 

I had a different problem with the fruit offerings at my school--they were canned, not fresh! Mostly we were given mixed fruit or peaches in syrup. Very rarely we got fresh orange pieces. I would have been a lot happier with the choice of a whole apple, banana, or orange, but we were not given choices on anything except 1 of 2 main dishes and fat free, 2%, or whole milk (and chocolate on Fridays).

 

I didn't mind the canned fruit, so I ate that. I would have loved fresh, though.

 

Also, we only had the various % milks to choose from and the milk was always warm to nearly hot. I hardly ever drank that. (I need a vomiting emoticon here) To this day I can't drink milk and I blame my 12 years of warm/hot milk. (another vomiting emoticon, please).

 

I was one of the kids who would eat the pizza and roll and nothing else. :tongue_smilie:

[stripe]

I think part of the problem is the way fruit is served. My kids will eat sliced apples. However, they typically don't want a whole apple.

 

I always see mealy old Red delicious apples offered. And they never look washed.

 

There are schools that have good success rates with fruits and vegetables. Often they include gardening.

[Jen500]

I always see mealy old Red delicious apples offered. And they never look washed.

 

There are schools that have good success rates with fruits and vegetables. Often they include gardening.

 

I haven't touched a Red Delicious apple since grade school. :tongue_smilie:

 

My son's elementary school actually serves decent, healthy foods. The kids can take what they want, though. They don't have to take something if they don't want to eat it. Wouldn't it be easier to let the kids choose, and then see that there are still 500 lbs of canned peas leftover at the end of the day, so maybe they could offer a different vegetable in the future?

[Paige]

I read that they want to do it so they can build a case that they are wasting money on forcing the kids to take the food on their trays. They want to offer the food only or change the menu, hoping that they can save money. Fed. regulations are requiring them to force all children to put the food on their plates. I think it is a reasonable way to make their case as part of a larger petition. While it would be a great 5th grade lesson, I think they want the camera so that nobody can say they are exaggerating and lying.

 

I believe part of the problem with wasted food is that the children have so little time. I packed my kids' lunches for school. They typically got 1/2 sandwich, 2 small baggies of fruit (grapes, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, or an apple before my DD was diagnosed as allergic), a bag with carrots and sugar snap peas, about 6 pretzel rods, and a cookie. Every day, they would come home starving and begging to finish their lunch. With only 20min to eat, they only had time to eat half their lunch! When kids have to spend time in line getting their food, that's even less time to eat. I believe they'd eat more fruit and veggies if they had more time. With only 20min, however, they prioritize and take the main dish, dessert, and whatever the bread/starch is and maybe they don't even have time for that.

[beaners]

I always see mealy old Red delicious apples offered. And they never look washed.

 

Oh my, yes. Plus, who wants to reach through the cloud of fruit fries for that? Yum.

[airforcefamily]

This is ridiculous.

 

Haven't the schools got bigger problems than what the kids are eating for lunch? If you are simply worried about them "cleaning their plates" then just give them soda and ice cream for lunch. Or here's another idea...don't serve anything unhealthy, and then they won't eat anything unhealthy. A truly hungry child WILL EAT VEGGIES.

 

 

Or they'll toss the veggies and wait until they get home to eat junk. For the rest of the day at school they'll just be a hungry behavior problem interrupting the learning of other kids. The school day isn't long enough for a child to become truly hungry. They could always just bring mountain dew and oreos from home instead of getting the healthy meals at school.

 

I'm generally very against frivolous government spending but researching how to get kids in school to eat relatively healthy food seems like a decent investment. Many kids, especially those from low income homes, don't get healthy food at home and won't eat unappetizing school lunch veggies so why not figure out a way to make that healthy food more appealing?

[kitten18]

 

I attended a small PS in Idaho for a month where the grandmotherly cafeteria ladies would stand by the trash can and encourage you to sit back down and finish your milk and veggies. However, their food tasted like it was real food cooked by nice grandmas (because it was!) rather than coming from a can, so it wasn't a fight generally.

That's the kind of "school food" I grew up with. I LOVED it. :D

[stripe]

won't eat unappetizing school lunch veggies

 

not to mention, the veges offered aren't even particularly healthy -- iceberg lettuce, french fries, overcooked boiled veges, blech!

 

Alice Waters formed the Chez Panisse Foundation in 1996, which led to the Edible Schoolyard Project. The School Lunch Initiative was formed in 2004. There have been many programs that expose children to interesting, healthy vegetables and fruit, and the kids eat them. Not to mention ones where they grow them!

http://edibleschoolyard.org/

[KidsHappen]

My kids will not eat school food period. They eat breakfast and then eat a late lunch when they get home from school. Then we have a really late dinner and a bedtime snack.

[Parrothead]

I wonder how much of this is because produce is unfamiliar in any form. They won't eat what they don't know.

 

Every time I go to the market and get a younger cashier I'm asked, "What is this?" about at least one produce item in my cart. Although yesterday, the conversation was slightly different.

 

"Is this a leek?"

 

"Yes"

 

"How do you spell that?"

 

 

:glare:

[Zebra]

Or they'll toss the veggies and wait until they get home to eat junk. For the rest of the day at school they'll just be a hungry behavior problem interrupting the learning of other kids. The school day isn't long enough for a child to become truly hungry. They could always just bring mountain dew and oreos from home instead of getting the healthy meals at school.

 

I'm generally very against frivolous government spending but researching how to get kids in school to eat relatively healthy food seems like a decent investment. Many kids, especially those from low income homes, don't get healthy food at home and won't eat unappetizing school lunch veggies so why not figure out a way to make that healthy food more appealing?

 

I disagree. I lived on junk food in middle/high school for lunch, got good grades and was never a behavior problem. I am not saying kids should eat terrible food but they will live. And I really think they should make sure everyone can read before they worry about what they are eating.

 

I also think that's it's a stereotype that kids from low income homes don't get healthy food at home. I grew up poor, and my parents fed us amazingly well at home. We never had soda and all that stuff which is why I felt like I was having a party at school.

 

If you only serve good food, then the kids will only eat good food. And if they are't hungry enough to eat good food, then they aren't hungry enough to be a behavior problem or get poor grades.

 

It seems like a simple survey would tell you what kids want to eat if you just want to stop wasting food. Cameras in the trash can is absolutely absurd, and scary.

[----]

.

[trinchick]

This topic hits a nerve with me. DD is in public school and really enjoys buying lunch. She really likes most of the veggies they serve (even better than those I serve at home). Just last night we were discussing her favorite cafeteria offerings: green beans, broccoli, and raisins. Today she's having a chicken caesar salad for lunch - and really looking forward to it!

 

However, she also said that she's REQUIRED to take a fruit every day, even though she hates all fruit. For instance, yesterday they served pasta, green beans, and apples. She happily took the pasta and beans but didn't want the apple. They told her she had to take it, so she did and promptly threw it away. I am completely satisfied with her lunch of pasta and green beans. I don't know why they insist that she take the apple.

 

Additionally, in my state (Massachusetts) they passed a new law that prevents the schools from offering any sweets in the cafeteria. This is the end of the ice cream dessert option (which DD often enjoyed AFTER eating her nutritious lunch), as well as a monthly birthday celebration where cake was served.

 

I am DD's mother. It is up to ME what she eats - not the school and certainly not the state. If parents don't want their kids to have access to ice cream and/or cake, then they simply need to pack their children's lunches and not provide them with funds to purchase additional items.

[angela in ohio]

Schools here cut portions of meat and carbs and students can have up to five fruits and vegetables, in an attempt to force healthier eating. Now everyone is complaining that the kids are starving by the time school is over, because they aren't eating the fruits and vegetables. :glare: People can blame the schools for poor nutrition, but how to you force a child fed on McDonalds dinners evvery night to eat healthy meals? They just keep trying new things, some better than others, but they can't combat the real problem, which starts at home.

 

Apparently, they would rather starve than eat veggies.

 

My 14 yo takes a few classes, and she eats lunch at school. She is legendary with the lunch ladies, because she eats broccoli, lima beans, etc. Now she is my best veggie eater, but it's more that we have trained them up to eat healthy food. She eats what is served, just as she does here or in others' homes. But I don't know many people teaching their dc that anymore.

[Sahamamama]

Why don't they stop offering corn dogs and fries, along with the cucumber slices? Of course the kids toss out the veggies, they're full from the corn dogs. :tongue_smilie: If the schools would only offer healthy foods, and stop making cr@p a choice, the kids might get hungry enough to eat the healthy food. Or wait until they go home, and then eat Twinkies.

 

Personally, I think parents should be responsible for funding and feeding their own offspring, without interference or oversight from the state/federal government. Parents should either send in a lunch or pay for the food their actually children take.

[Sahamamama]

However, she also said that she's REQUIRED to take a fruit every day, even though she hates all fruit. For instance, yesterday they served pasta, green beans, and apples. She happily took the pasta and beans but didn't want the apple. They told her she had to take it, so she did and promptly threw it away. I am completely satisfied with her lunch of pasta and green beans. I don't know why they insist that she take the apple.

 

[snip]

 

I am DD's mother. It is up to ME what she eats - not the school and certainly not the state. If parents don't want their kids to have access to ice cream and/or cake, then they simply need to pack their children's lunches and not provide them with funds to purchase additional items.

 

:iagree:Preach it, Sistah! :D You are the Mom!

 

I agree, too, it's incredible that they require her to take an apple, knowing full well that she'll probably throw it away. Think about what that policy teaches an entire generation of kids -- take it to follow the rule, throw it away. Wasteful! They don't even compost the produce? I was the student who would have refused. I am a Conscientious Objector to forced fruitings. :lol:

 

So they're required to be mindlessly wasteful, then, after lunch, they'll go to Science class, where they're studying the environment. ;) They'll learn about the evils of landfills and the need for recycling. They'll be told to police their families for "wastefulness" and be sure to turn off the trickle of water their father uses for brushing his teeth.